Lunenburg's unbeaten streak snapped

LUNENBURG -- Through seven games, the Lunenburg High boys had been playing some fantastic soccer.

But the streak of playing great came to a crashing halt, as sub-.500 Tyngsboro potted three goals in the second half to post a convincing 3-0 Wachusett League A victory over Lunenburg Tuesday night under the lights at Lunenburg High.

"Like I told the team, we didn't play our game," said Lunenburg coach Mike Gutzler, whose team suffered its first loss of the season to fall to 6-1-1 and 4-1 in the league. "We didn't put passes together, we didn't play good possession. As soon as we got the ball, we gave it up. I thought we played hard the first half. We stayed with them or they stayed with us. It was fairly even, but it was not great soccer. It was kind of a kick-and-run.

"Collectively, we just had a bad game. We just had a bad game."

The Blue Knights didn't play particularly well, but one reason was that the Tigers (3-5-2, 3-3) came in hungry, focused and determined to use this game as a springboard to turn their season around.

"We finally played as a team," Tyngsboro coach Jeff Ogden said. "This is a big win for us. Overall, we're happy with it. This was probably our best performance of the season."

After playing to a scoreless stalemate in the first half, Tyngsboro got the advantage when Paul Sickinger connected with Mike Polin, who beat Lunenburg keeper John Lahti in the 51st minute for a 1-0 lead.

"Throwing balls at the net, that's what we talked about at halftime," Ogden said.

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"We knew we had to step up and put a couple balls in the net."

A breakdown deep in the Blue Knight zone led to the Tigers' second tally in the 60th minute.

A miscommunication between Lahti and a defender led to Sickinger emerging with the ball on the post and pushing it the far corner for a two-goal cushion.

"As good as the defense has been all year, we just had some colossal mistakes in the back in the second half," Gutzler said. "Everybody tried to do it on their own in the second half. We weren't looking for the open man."

Tyngsboro's Tommy Smith had the prettiest goal in the 75th minute. The forward streaked down the right wing and outraced a defender before hammering a shot that zipped over Lahti's outstretched arms.

Lunenburg's Robert Gardner was rejected by Tyngsboro keeper Andy Savard on the doorstep with less than two minutes left to preserve the shutout.

Lunenburg speedstar Georges Tenie showcased his exceptional speed early in the first half with a rush down the far sideline, but his shot sailed wide of Savard.

Lunenburg's Sam Christensen made a nice touch-pass to spring Tenie later in the half, but Savard and Tenie met at the same time and the Tyngsboro keeper registered the big save.

"I think we'll come back and we'll be fine," Gutzler said about suffering the first loss. "We just have to get this game out of our head."

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